Insight into the significant events of human history, following a day-to-day analysis of the Gregorian calendar.

Monday, June 4, 2012

4th of June

It is the 155th day of the year, with only 210 days remaining until the end of the year.

1876 - An express train called the Transcontinental Express arrives in San Francisco, California, via the First Transcontinental Railroad only 83 hours and 39 minutes after leaving New York City.

1896 - Henry Ford completes the Ford Quadricycle, his first gasoline-powered automobile, and gives it a successful test run.

1912 - Massachusetts becomes the first state of the United States to set a minimum wage.

1939 - The MS St. Louis, a ship carrying 963 Jewish refugees, is denied permission to land in Florida, after already being turned away from Cuba. It is forced to return to Europe, more than 200 of its passengers later die in Nazi concentration camps.

1940 - British forces complete evacuation of 300,000 troops from Dunkirk in France. To rally the morale of the country, Winston Churchill delivers his famous "We shall fight on the beaches" speech.

1944 - A hunter-killer group of the United States Navy captures the German submarine U-505, the first time a U.S. navy vessel had captured an enemy vessel at sea since the 19th century.

1973 - A patent for the ATM is granted to Donald Wetzel, Tom Barnes, and George Chastain.

1974 - During Ten Cent Beer Night, inebriated Cleveland Indians fans start a riot, causing the game to be forfeited to the Texas Rangers.

1986 - Jonathan Pollard pleads guilty to espionage for selling top secret United States military intelligence to Israel.

1998 - Terry Nichols is sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.